7 Food System Changes That Could Save America Trillions

Every year, diet-related diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and obesity cost America trillions of dollars. Not millions. Not billions. Trillions.

Meanwhile, countries like Japan spend a fraction of what we do on healthcare while their citizens live longer, healthier lives. They built a food system that works.

America can do the same. But first, we need to fix the system. Here’s how we do it.

1. Make School Lunch Real Food Again

In Japan, school lunches are cooked from scratch, balanced, and part of education. In America, we feed our kids processed, reheated junk—then wonder why childhood obesity is skyrocketing.

1. Cooked-from-scratch meals in every public school.

2. Food education—teach kids how to cook, not just how to eat.

3. No more ultra-processed, low-bid contracts.

2. Food is Medicine—So Let’s Treat It Like One

80% of our healthcare costs are diet-related. Yet we spend almost nothing on preventing disease through food. If food is the root cause of disease, it should also be part of the cure.

1. Grocery discounts for people managing diabetes or heart disease.

2. Medicare and Medicaid covering fresh food as treatment.

3. Doctors and hospitals partnering with farms, not just pharmaceutical companies.

3. Fix Fast Food by Making It Smart

Let's face it, people aren’t going to stop eating fast food. In Japan, convenience stores sell fresh bento boxes, soups, and salads. People eat what’s available. Let’s make better food more available.

1. Bento-style vending machines instead of candy machines.

2. Healthy grab-and-go meals at gas stations, not just junk.

3. Tax incentives for fast food chains that sell real, whole food.

4. Teach Kids (and Adults) How to Cook Again

In Japan, food education is a core subject. In the U.S., cooking skills are disappearing. A population that doesn’t know how to cook will forever depend on the cheapest, most processed options.

1. Grocery shopping, cooking, and nutrition taught in every school.

2. Community cooking classes, just like financial literacy programs.

3. Tax incentives for businesses that offer real food education and help spread awareness about food systems.

5. Stop Subsidizing Junk, Start Supporting Real Food

In the U.S., we spend billions subsidizing corn, soy, and wheat—the building blocks of ultra-processed food. We’re spending public money to make bad food cheaper. What if we used it to make good food more accessible?

1. Government funding for local produce, not just industrial crops.

2. Farm-to-school programs where schools buy directly from local farms.

3. Tax breaks for food companies that reduce ultra-processed ingredients.

6. Dignify Access to Healthy Food—No More Stigma

80% of working-poor families don’t use food banks because of shame. But in Japan, fresh markets are everywhere. No one is forced to shop at a dollar store for groceries.

1. Grocery store loyalty programs that automatically discount fresh food for low-income families.

2. EBT-friendly healthy meal programs at gas stations and corner stores.

3. Mobile markets that bring fresh food to food deserts.

7. Stop Wasting Food While People Go Hungry

America wastes 40% of the food we produce. Japan has strict food waste laws, ensuring food goes where it’s needed, not in the trash.

1. Make large-scale food waste illegal without a donation plan.

2. Tax incentives for grocery stores that redistribute surplus food.

3. City-wide composting programs that turn food waste into regenerative farming solutions.

The Trillion-Dollar Opportunity

Our diets can reduce our healthcare costs and make food systems work for us, not against us.

Because when you fix food, you fix everything—health, dignity, and potentially save trillions of dollars.